With fall's much anticipated arrival, comes the sun's obliged migration. Leaden skies, frigid fingertips, and the imminent death of once flourishing foliage torment our autumnal reveries with melancholia and stuffy noses. For those gloomy, overcast days in which we are tangled in over-sized quilts, yearning for a mere glimpse of sunlight, there is an abundance of lulling indie songs to soothe our dreary minds. The following are 25 of the most essential anthems for your gloomy day playlist.
1. "Pink Bullets" - The Shins
This 2003 track off of "Chutes Too Narrow" is so versatile in a playlist as this. It works effectively in setting the mood, breaking repetiveness somewhere in the middle, and can satisfyingly resolve an hours-long list of acoustic indie jams with its unique "Shins'" sound.
2. "Grand Optimist" - City and Colour
This one is arguably the best City and Colour composition. The opening acoustic chords ignite a longing for solitude, personal criticism, and even the reassurance of a parents' trusted voice. It is a fundamental melody for a cloudy day playlist.
3. "Since I've Been Loving You" - Led Zeppelin
Every playlist needs a Led Zeppelin song.
4. "Tuxedos" - Cold War Kids
This hidden Cold War Kids' gem is an ode to loneliness and uncertainity. If it doesn't lead to introspection, it will certainly make you think twice about the food you eat at weddings.
5. "Maps" - Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs
Once deemed an alternative anthem of the sorts, "Maps" by the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs is a necessary contribution to such a lulling track list. It's famous declaration, "They don't love you like I love you," is timeless, despite the threat of mainstream indie rock songs.
6. "No Surprises" - Radiohead
Like its title suggests, you should have assumed that this iconic Radiohead song would appear on such a list of musical aristocracy. Though the day is dreary, Thom Yorke can and will salvage it with this breathtaking critique of mundane, everyday life.
7. "Hourglass" - Catfish and the Bottlemen
This underrated Bottlemen song vocalizes our impatient cravings for those we are apart from. As a love song for modern society, it resolves with "I wanna carry all of your children/ And I wanna call them stupid shit."
8. "Seaside" - The Kooks
This song by The Kooks is a short but effective proclamation of affection for a girl he fell in love with by the seaside.
9. "Blue Veins" - The Raconteurs
An obvious addition for anyone infatuated with all-things Jack White. Though Jack White leads vocals on this track, it is seemingly more blues-y and tamed in comparison with his solo work.
10. "So Good at Being in Trouble" - Unknown Moral Orchestra
This light-hearted UMO track is refreshing after what may feel like an abundance of melancholic melodies. You're welcome.
11. "Tesselate" - alt-J
Alt-J transcends typical expectations for this playlist with this eerily entrancing addition.
12. "Landslide" - Fleetwood Mac
Though this classic 70s song may blur on the lines of "Dreary Day Playlist" and downright "Spiraling Despair," it is an absolute necessity. (Unless you can't handle the seasons of your life...)
13. "Searching the Blue" - The Arcs
This is my ONE token Dan Auerbach song. However biased I am towards the beloved frontman of The Black Keys, this track by his side project, The Arcs, flawlessly encapsulates that familiar yearning reminiscent of earlier Black Keys' compositions.
14. "Jesus Christ" - Brand New
Disclaimer: This one is relatively heavy for a mere cloudy day playlist. Perhaps save the existential crisis debate for later in the night.
15. "Hard Wired" - Shakey Graves
This folk rock ballad is harrowingly beautiful becauase of its emotional rawness. Though this was a song I listened to frequently on solitary summer nights, it transfers flawlessing into this particular inventory.
16. "Broadripple is Burning" - Margot & the Nuclear So and So's
Another acoustic track detailing the horrors of life after the loss of a beloved companion. Like many other assumed post-breakup songs, it is full of desperation and whiskey, just the way they should be.
17. "Wild Horses" - The Rolling Stones
This powerful love song by the Stones fully embodies the resistance to leave the one you truly love. Its acoustic nature flows fluidly amidst the rest of its pre- and proceeding tunes.
18. "A Lack of Color" - Death Cab for Cutie
This DCFC acoustic track off of "Transatlanticism" is a most appropriate and comforting reminder of your 8th grade music taste. If the very title "A Lack of Color" isn't proof of its relevance to this rainy day playlist, then its lyrics about losing a loved one is sure to embody the pessimism of such a day.
19. "Dear Believer" - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes
So many Edward Sharpe songs were considered for this elite list of tracks, but "Dear Believer" off of their 2012 album "Here" will break the monotony of the somewhat somber songs on this list in a way that doesn't disrupt contemplation.
20. "The Bomb Song" - Darwin Deez
"The Bomb Song" by Darwin Deez details a sort of post-nuclear bomb stricken society in which all is lost. Though our overcast days aren't nearly as threatening, we can still relate to "the city's a ghost town/ the city is dead" on days in which the lack of sunlight has seemed to paralyze human activity.
21. "Vienna" - Billy Joel
A classic that goes without explanation or persuasion.
22. "Gooey" - Glass Animals
Despite its description of an "icky, gooey womb," this gloomy day track feels a lot like what tip-toeing atop clouds must be like. While its dream-like nature is unique among the rest of this playlist's songs, it dissolves seamlessly back to our overcast reality.
23. "Cherry Wine (Live)" - Hozier
Any Hozier song would suffice on such a playlist, but "Cherry Wine" is a most sedating lullaby for a day dedicated to tranquility and self-reflection.
24. "Devil Like Me" -Rainbow Kitten Surprise
Despite what this band's name might lead you to believe, Rainbow Kitten Surprise is far from that angst-y boy band you worshiped in middle school. This alternative group from North Carolina encompasses everything still good and wholesome about indie rock; captivating vocals, interpretive album artwork, and pessimism.
25. "Baby" - Devendra Banhart
Though a relatively new song to myself, "Baby" made its debut on my overcast playlist because of its easygoing nature. Like most songs that demand a rightful place on a playlist, this one was a respectable candidate for one of the very few carefree and lightweight tracks that this catalog was lacking.
These 25 are only some of the songs featured in my playlist, "An Ode to Overcast" that you can follow on Spotify. There you will find other artists such as Band of Horses, The Head and the Heart, Arctic Monkeys, Alabama Shakes, Cage the Elephant and numerous others!
